


It’s like catching lightening

by Ellana17



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Idiots in Love, Love Confessions, M/M, POV Thea Queen, Post-Episode: s04e08 Legends of Yesterday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-06-21 18:51:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15564213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellana17/pseuds/Ellana17
Summary: Thea – and the other members of the team – can’t help but notice that Oliver and Barry were just meant to be





	It’s like catching lightening

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah I know the title is from a High School Musical song, I just couldn’t pass up the chance. As usual, this is based on the premise that Oliver and Barry are each other’s love interests in the show.

At one point, Thea had simply realized that the Flash was in fact the lanky boy she had seen dancing with Felicity at her mom’s Christmas party a couple years ago. How on Earth had that guy turned into a superhero, Thea had no idea. But judging by her brother’s obvious interest in the guy, Barry had some hidden qualities she had simply yet to see. What she did see though, was that the two heroes were perfect for each other. In fact, the whole team could see it clearly, except for the two persons involved.

John and Lyla had been the first to comment on it within Thea’s hearing range and had made the young woman realize just how much of her brother’s life she had missed not knowing about his secret identity.

For most of the team, John and Lyla were the perfect couple; the example to follow and they would often provide much needed pieces of advice when a member of the team was faced with personal issues. So when Thea had caught them talking about Oliver and Barry’s bumpy friendship, Thea had wanted to know more about the way her brother had first met the Flash. Barry had saved her brother’s life with rat poison and Oliver had tried to strangle him. Thea had rolled her eyes at that. Typical Oliver.

 

Team Flash had been a nice addition to their group, although Thea would never be caught alive flattering Cisco’s ego. When Barry had stolen her brother’s drink during his toast, Thea and Cisco had glanced at each other and she had known in that moment that they were on the same wavelength. Cisco did not know Oliver as well as Thea did but even he could see how different Oliver was acting when Barry was around.

Thea rarely got to see her brother smile these days but when he did, it was because of Barry. Thea loved the other man for that. Her brother was not the same man he was before the island of course, that Oliver was gone – maybe forever – but from time to time, with Barry’s help, Thea got to see glimpses of Ollie’s humor and that made her smile despite their chaotic situation.

 

Barry was the self-sacrificing type, Thea had realized soon after. She had glanced at Laurel as Oliver and Barry argued about getting in the line of fire. Laurel had rolled her eyes pointedly, and Thea had tried to fight off a grin. Of course Laurel would have noticed what was happening between the two heroes, she was well acquainted with Oliver’s smitten look after all.

 

Thea had been skeptical about Barry actually being the Flash. The boy was all skin and bones after all and, not accounting for the superpowers, Thea could have taken him any day of the week. The superspeed probably made up for the lack of muscles, she thought.

Barry had saved her brother’s life, that much had made him okay in Thea’s book from the get go. Once Thea had finally talked to the guy, she had realized that he was an even better person than she had imagined. Barry put them all to shame in the niceness department.

Thea had also noticed the huge crush the guy had on her brother. Thea had noticed it after spending five minutes alone with Barry – that was how obvious he was! Thea had never heard anyone call Oliver an inspiration, and that had been a nice change from the usual insults and slander.

 

Her brother smiled a lot more when Barry was around, that was a given. Thea would have loved to never see that smile fade from her brother’s face ever again. She just did not know how to make that happen.

Thea could see her brother liked Barry – everybody could see it! However, Thea knew well enough by now that her brother was a stubborn man. A stubborn man with serious self-loathing issues. There was no way Oliver would make the first move, or even consider making the first move. Thea knew what was going on inside Oliver’s head. She knew he thought he did not deserve Barry. That he would never let himself be happy before finishing his crusade.

Thea did not want her brother to live the rest of his life alone.

Although if anyone was able to pull Oliver out of his incessant brooding and self-loathing, that someone would be Barry.

Barry had pierced through all of Oliver’s barriers at once, shattering the walls Thea’s brother had spent so many years building around him.

From what she had heard, Oliver had trained Barry at the beginning. That, she would have paid good money to see. The sheer idea of her brother trying to teach a man who could not stop fidgeting for even five minutes was hilarious in and on itself. At times, Barry seemed to have no idea what he was doing and Thea wondered how they could make things work in Central City without blowing everything up on a daily basis. Well, she thought, Barry’s powers came from something blowing up in the first place.

The fact that her brother was so supportive of the other hero was truly heartwarming. If not a bit sickening. Oliver’s crush was not as obvious as Barry’s. Her brother had become a pretty good liar over the years; Thea knew that from first-hand experience.

 

The team could not stay in Central City forever, which was too bad, according to Thea. She had come to love that sunny city. Plus, Barry was there which made her brother happy. At first, Thea had thought Central City was the reason behind Oliver’s sudden good mood before realizing the location had nothing to do with it.

 

Oliver had appeared in no hurry to get back, which had led to one more team up. Not that Thea was complaining. She had accepted Cisco’s ideas for her suit and had been thrilled at the prospect of fighting meta-humans. Her excitement had been taken down a notch when her brother had gotten hurt though. Thea had not seen what had happened but judging by Barry’s reaction, Thea was pretty sure her brother had taken a shot for the other hero.

 

Caitlin had remained calm and collected when they had brought Oliver back to STAR Labs, broken and bloody. She had assured all of them that his injuries were not as bad as they looked but her reassuring words had done nothing to calm Barry’s nerves.

Caitlin had been reassuring, Cisco had stuck his foot in his mouth and everyone had cleared away before the situation could get any worse. Thea had stayed behind, sitting down in the Cortex and pretending to clean up her bow while eavesdropping on her brother’s conversation.

 

“I’m fine, Barry,” her brother groaned in annoyance.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Barry said for what felt like the hundredth time. “I heal fast, I would have been fine!”

“If that Meta had got to you, there would have been nothing left for you to heal,” Oliver countered.

“Come on, Ollie, it wasn’t that bad,” Barry replied.

“You were right in his line of sight, and you were distracted. You can’t afford to lose focus or lose sight of the mission when you’re out there, Barry!” Oliver scolded him.

Thea made a face. Her brother was being too hard on the guy.

“I didn’t!” Barry argued. “If anything you’re the one who lost sight of the mission by saving me!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Why did you take that shot for me, huh?” Barry asked harshly.

“I needed you to get the team out of there.”

Barry shook his head. “I don’t think that’s it,” he countered. “I don’t think that’s it at all. I don’t know if you’re blind or actually lying to yourself but I know why you did it, why you took that shot for me.”

Oliver crossed his arms defensively. “And why is that?” he asked, challenging.

“Because you have feelings for me,” Barry stated.

Thea’s eyes widened in surprise as she glanced back and forth between Oliver and Barry.

Oliver scoffed in disbelief. “Barry that’s- That has nothing to do with-”

Barry raised his eyebrow. “Really, Ollie? Are you really going to deny it? Look, I know why you didn’t say anything, you told me guys like us couldn’t afford the distraction but this-” he said, gesturing between them. “It’s not working. I’m already distracted and I know you are too. You were distracted enough to make a rash decision that got you hurt today, I don’t think I could take it if anything happened to you because of me.”

“Barry, don’t you see talking about this will only make things worse,” Oliver said. “I didn’t say anything because it doesn’t change anything.”

“Are you kidding me, Oliver?” Barry exclaimed, throwing his hands up. “This could change everything.”

“I took a hit today because I was trying to protect you. I didn’t think. I just reacted. Don’t you think being together would make it even worse?” Oliver challenged.

“You’re already putting yourself in danger for me and we both know I would do the same for you in a heartbeat. What could be worse than that?”

“Loosing you,” Oliver said simply, his shoulders dropping suddenly. “I already lost too many people, Barry. I don’t know how many more losses I can take before I loose my mind.”

Barry nodded weakly. “We both already feel that way,” he pointed out gently, touching Oliver’s shoulder. “I feel like we got this all backwards, we have all the drawbacks of a relationship without the advantages.”

“And what would be the advantages?” Oliver asked.

Barry smiled. “An actual date, for starters,” he listed. “More team ups in our future. I could visit you in Star City.”

Oliver hummed. “It does sound nice,” he finally agreed.

“Yeah?” Barry said, grinning. Oliver nodded hesitantly. “There, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

Oliver shook his head, trying to fight off a smile. “I’ll remind you that you said that when things go to shit.”

“We really need to work on your pessimism,” Barry said quietly before leaning in.

Thea averted her eyes as the two heroes kissed tenderly. She took her bow and left the Cortex without being seen by either of them. For a brief moment, she thought that Oliver might have been right after all. He was already too distracted.

Thea rolled her eyes. Oliver had definitely been rubbing off on her.

 

THE END


End file.
